Unlike carbon nanotubes, nanostructures of germanium, a group IV semiconductor, have not been fully explored. Germanium and associated compounds at nanoscale are promising candidates for future nanoelectronics based technologies, e.g., nanotube metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) devices, which can extend the device scaling roadmap while maintaining good short channel effects and providing competitive drive current.
Techniques for forming nanotubes from a thin solid film of material have been proposed. See, for example, Schmidt et al., “Nanotechnology: Thin solid films roll up into nanotubes,” Nature 410, 168 (March 2001) which describes a process by which films that are released from a substrate roll up into the shape of a nanotube. It is however difficult to achieve nanotubes with consistent dimensions using this type of process, and the process is not efficient enough for large-scale production.
Therefore, improved techniques for producing nanostructured materials would be desirable.